Filmmaker Jeff Titon writes... "Albert 'Hap' Collins was a terrific storyteller, and when I showed some of his stories to my friends they really enjoyed them. It was during that first session that I found out Albert was a poet too. I had known him off and on for about eight years, mostly as a fellow fiddler, but I'd never realized he was a poet.

"I shot most of the footage of Albert in the summer of 1988, using a Sony 8mm camcorder. At first my idea was just to shoot a couple of hours in Albert's kitchen. So I set up the camcorder at one end of the kitchen, turned it on and focused it on where we were going to be, and Albert and I sat down at his table and talked.

"I went out lobster fishing with Albert and his friend Ken Taplin on their boat so I could video tape them fishing. We arranged some other sessions too: George Fowler came over and the three of us did what we'd done many times before --play music together.

"I made this video portrait of my friend and neighbor to show some of the things I'd learned from Albert about his life and work as a lobster fisherman, craftsman, painter, storyteller, and poet."